Councillors approve deal to hand over Beavermead Park to ORCA

(PETERBOROUGH) The Otonabee Regional Conservation Authority (ORCA) will take over operations at Beavermead Campground for the next two years.
Peterborough city councillors, sitting as the Committee of the Whole, approved the pilot project after a lengthy discussion, in hopes the move will revitalize the campground and attract more visitors.
CUPE local 504, which represent the campground workers, is upset over the deal, citing a lack of transparency and the loss of six seasonal positions.
Jeff Pass, vice president with the union, says members are disappointed to see the City hand over the campground, when it turned a profit of $23,937, last year.
With roughly $100,000 set aside in the City's budget for capital improvements to the grounds, Mr. Pass says ORCA will now have the tools previous staff didn't to help the campground succeed.
According to a consultant hired to review operations at the campground last year, new washrooms and laundry facilities are among the top priorities at the grounds, with all major improvements expected to cost nearly $2 million.
"It's unfortunate we weren't given this opportunity," he says. "Campground employees worked hard to bring this park back after it was privatized years ago. Now, it's being taken out of our hands."
ORCA, he says, will have no responsibility for the repairs and upgrades, which will be covered by the City.
According to Mr. Pass, more than a dozen CUPE workers sat in on the Jan. 28 meeting, with many unable to attend due to the freezing rain and snow that hit the region throughout the day.
Coun. Len Vass, who voted to approve the deal, calls it a win-win for the City and ORCA.
"I think it makes sense," he says, adding CUPE workers will still do maintenance work on the grounds. "It gives us an opportunity to determine where we go with the campground."
Any profit made at Beavermead will come off of the City's subsidy to the agency, says Coun. Vass.
Mr. Pass says CUPE representatives plans to address the issue at a Feb. 4 council meeting.
"We are just so disappointed," he says. "We want council to have an open mind...We brought it back from privatization, which was a disaster. In two years, we will be there to pick up the pieces.